Safety device for automobiles.



W. E. CARSTENSEN. SAFETY DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 9. 1911.

1,266,551. Patented May 21, 1918.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET I. 1 .Z

INVENTOR jlZ/lkm d/zf rutn, BY

A TTORNE YS.

W. E. CAR STENSEN. 4 SAFETY DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 9. 1911.

1 ,266,551 Patented May 21,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESS: INVENTOR. 2102' 116b d/tf/'mn; I

M6 I /3M7:

A TTORNE YS.

WILLIAM E. cans'rnnsnn, or euaaams, camromua.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specificatlon of Letters Patent.

. Patented May 21, 1918.

Application filed July 9, 1917. Serial No. 179,391.

"To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. CARSTEN- SEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quarries, inthe county of Sonoma' and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Devices for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to devices designed for the promotion of safety in the operation of automobiles, and in particular to a device or instrument the functions of which are to indicate the grade and, at the same time, the rate of speed at which the indicated grade may be negotiated with safety; to automatically operate the horn when taking a curveat a speed predetermined to exceed the limit of safety for said curve; and to automatically and continuously operate the horn in case the automobile upsets.

These are the objects of my invention, and to these ends my invention consists in the novel safety-device which I shall now fully describe, by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1- is a front elevation of my safety device.

Fig. 2 is a. front view, enlarged, the case with its dial plate being removed.

Fig. 3 is a topplan view of the interior mechanism.

Fig; 4: is an elevation of the same with the front frame plate removed.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the mechanism, in a part section on 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on 6-6 of Fig. 4.

1 is the case of the instrument, in practice having the circular shape common to dial carrym devices. 1 in Fig. 2 is the back plate 0 the case; The instrument is properly mounted on the front board 2 of the automobile, and it carries'a face 3, upon which is delineated a grade scale 4, which on one side, say on the left hand, indicates an up grade and onthe other. or right hand side indicates a down grade, both running from zero at the bottom to, say 25' degrees at the top, as shown in Fig; 1. Upon ,the face is also delineated a second scale 5..the markings of which indicate rates of speed in miles per hour.

Within the case 1' is a frame 6 comprising suitably connected front and back platesn In the upper portion of this frame, about half way between the front and back plates, and

. spring 16', shown in Figs. 2, 3" and 5.

parallel therewith is a rock-shaft 7, from which, by a stem 8, is suspended a pendulum weight 9 adapted to swing with the rock shaft in a direction fore and aft. Between one endof the rock-shaft 7 and the arbor 10 of the grade-hand 11 is a gear train 12, properly proportioned to effect by the rocking of I the shaft, under the swing of the pendulum due to the-grade, the travel of the hand 11 over the grade scale 4. For an up-grade the hand will move up to the left and for a down grade it will move up to the right, and thus indicate the percentage of either grade.

On the other end of the rock-shaft 7 is a crank pin 13, Figs. 3 and 5, which when said shaft moves in the direction for indicating the down-grade is adapted to come in contact with and thereby to move a crank pin 14 on a gear 15 of a gear train 16 leading to an arbor 17 which carries a speed indicating hand 18 adapted to travel over the speed scale 5. No movement of the speed hand 18' is effected by the movement of the rock-shaft in a direction indicating an upgrade, and, therefore, when such up-grade is encountered, the speed hand remains quiescent. But when a down grade is being traveled, the grade hand 11 moves up to the right over the down grade section of the grade-scale a, and at the same time the speed-hand 18 moves over the speed scale 5. The gear train 16 and hand 18 return to normal, by means of a Now by properly proportioning these. movements of the two hands according to a predetermined ratio, it can be inadeapparcut at what rate of speed a given percentage of down grade may be safely negotiated, and the driver can regulate his speed accordingly.

It is apparent that the sanieconditions may be made to apply to the up-grade if such be desirable, but I have found that on the upgrade the machine is under suflicient control for various causes to render such provision unnecessary; but by applying suchsafeguard to the down-grade travel, the element of safety is sufiiciently satisfied.

For the further functions of the instrument the following features will now be noted. In the back plate 1 of the case 1 near the lower portion at each side is mounted a bar 19 which at 20 is electrically insulated from said plate, as seen in Figsi3 and 6. One end of each of these bars has electrical. connection with a binding post 21 on the exterior of the back-plate of the case,

and from these binding posts and from a ground onthe back-plate 1 at 22 leads an electric circuit 23 which includes the battery 23' and the horny-24 of the automobile, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each of the insulated bars 19 carries a contact 25 adjustably mounted thereon by means of the screw stem 26, so that said contacts may be set in or out as predetermined, as seen clearly in Fig. 6.

The stem 8 of the pendulumv weight 9 has in its length a hinge, joint 27, as shown in Figs. 4; and 5, enabling the weightto swing laterally, with the joint 27 as a center, so

, that it may come in contact with either electrical contact according to the side toward which it swings. The weight is a metallic one and the electric circuit being 1 grounded on the metallic case of the instrument it follows that said weight 9 and saidcontacts 25 form the poles of an electric switch which is open when the weight does not touch the contacts 25 and is closed when it doestouch them.

Now, when the automobile is rounding a curve, say from right to left centrifugal force will swing the ,weight 9 about the hinge 27 over to contact with the right hand contact 25, which will complete the electric circuit and will sound the horn;..and simi larly when roundin a curve from left to r1ght, the weight w swing to the left and by closing the switch on the left side will cause the horn to sound. By properly adjusting the contacts 25 with relation to the swing of the weight such radius of curve as may be deemed unsafe under a given 5 ee'd,

may be predetermined. This signal is, t ierefore, not only a warning to others of the approach of the machine, but is also a notice to thedriver himself that he is exceedin a safe speed on a given curve.

into a deep and possibly wooded his construction leads, finally, to the following important result.- It has happened, not infr uently, that a machine is upset under con itidns of place, that the accident is not noticeable to others passing the locality, asfor example, down a bank gully, and

\4 the occupants of the machine so injured as 'to be incapable of callingfor help. If this should occur, the weight 9 will, under all circumstances, lie over in contact with one or the other of the contacts 25, and the horn will sound continuously until "heeded by others or until the battery is exhausted; and

the warning will, therefore, continue for many hours or even days, thereby insuring I-claim:

1. A safety device for automobiles, comprising an indicator for grade-percentage;-v meansfor-operating said indicator; an in 'SWlIlgHlg movement developed by changes of grade; a face plate having a grade scale and a speed-scale bearin a definite predetermined relation of sa ety to'the gradescale; a hand operated' bya the swinging movement of the weight, andplaying over the grade scale to indicate the grade percentage; and a second hand playing over the speed-scale and operated by the movement of the weight simultaneously with the operation of the first hand.

3. A safety device for automobiles comprising a pendulous weight suspended for swingmg movement developed by changes of grade; a rock-shaft from which said weight is suspended; at hand; connections between said rock-shaft and hand to move the latter; a face-plate having a grade scale over ,which said hand, plays and having also a speedscale indicating a relation-of safety to the grade percentage; a second hand playing over the speed-scale; and connections between said rock-shaft and the second hand to move the latter, said last named connec-, tions bearing a predetermined proportional movement relation to the first named connections.

4. A safety device for automobiles comprising a pendulous weight'suspended for. swinging movement developed by changes of grade; a rock-shaft from which said-weight is suspended; a hand; connectionsbetween said rock-shaft and hand to move the latter; a face-plate having a scale over which the hand plays, said scale indicating opposing 'up and down ade percentages, said faceplate having a so a speed-scale indicating a relation of safety to the grade percentage; a second hand playing over the speed-scale; and connections between said rock-shaft and the second hand to move the latter only when the first hand moves over the down grade portion of its scale said last named connections bearing. a redetermined proportional movement relation to the first named connectio 5. F safety device for automobiles com-* prising a pendulous vweight suspended for swinging movement developed by changes of grade and for a swinging movement under centrifugal force developed by the travel of the machine on a curve; a face-plate having a grade-scale; a handoperated b the first named swinging movement o the weight and laying over the scale to indicate the grad; percentage; an electric alarm circuit including said weight as one pole of a; switch; and a second pole of said switch adapted for make and break contact with the weight underthe centrifugal movement thereof.

6. A safety device for automobiles comprising a pendulous weight suspended forswmgmg movement developed by changes of grade and for a swinging movement under centrifugal force developed by the travel of the machine on a curve; a face-plate having a gade-scale and a speed-scale bearing a de ite predetermined relation of safety to the grade-scale; a hand operated by the first named swinging movement of the weight and playing over the grade scale to indicate the grade percentage; a second hand playing over the speed-scale and operated by said movement of the weight simultaneously with the operation of the first hand; an electric alarm circuit including said weight as one pole of aswitch; and a second pole of said switch adapted for make and break contact with the weight under the centrifugal movement thereof. 7 A safety device for automobiles comprising a pe'ndulous weight suspended by a stem for swinging movement developed by playing over the speed-scale and operated by the rock-shaft on said movement of the weight; an electric alarm circuit including said weight as one pole of a switch; and a A second pole, adjustably mounted, of said switch adapted for make and break contact with the weight under the centrifugal movement thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM E. CARSTENSEN.

Witnesses: 4

WMNF. BOOTH, D. B. Rromums. 

